American Education in the Twentieth Century

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Description+

In the Shadow of Authoritarianism explores how American educators, in the wake of World War I, created a student-centered curriculum in response to authoritarian threats abroad. For most of the 20th century, American educators lived in the shadow of ideological, political, cultural, and existential threats (including Prussianism, propaganda, collectivism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, mind control, the space race, and moral relativity). To meet the perceived threat, the American curriculum was gradually moved in a more student-centered direction that focused less on “what to think” and more on “how to think.” This book examines the period between World War I and the 1980s, focusing on how U.S. schools countered the influence of fascist and communist ideologies, as well as racial discrimination. Fallace also considers this approach in light of current interests in the Common Core State Standards.

Book Features:

Places American educational ideas in a global context.

Outlines how events overseas shaped, challenged, and supported the ideals of progressive and postwar education.

Discusses a major reorientation in democratic education from ideological commitment to ideological skepticism before and after World War II.

Examines how leading American educators cited the work of educational philosopher John Dewey in different ways before and after World War II.

Author+

Thomas D. Fallace is a professor of education at William Paterson University in New Jersey. He is the author of Race and the Origins of Progressive Education, 1880–1929 and Dewey and the Dilemma of Race: An Intellectual History, 1895-1922.

Reviews+

"Does a healthy democracy require an authoritarian enemy? In the face of overseas challenges like fascism and communism, American educators sought to teach the skills and habits of democracy: reason, tolerance, and especially critical thinking. But as Thomas Fallace shows, when the Cold War came to a close, overtly economic goals replaced democratic ones. Perhaps the recent rise of new authoritarian threats--not just abroad, but also at home--will rejuvenate our long tradition of democratic education. Schools have served as the bulwarks of democracy before. Let's hope they can do so again, guided by this smart little book."—Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania

“Fallace offers a fresh, provocative history of democratic education as it has been practiced in the United States.”—Walter Parker, University of Washington

Contents+

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: How to Think, Not What to Think

Chapter 1. In the Shadow of Prussianism German Influence on U.S. Education Anti-Prussianism and the World War The Americanization Campaign The Americanization of John Dewey

Chapter 2. In the Shadow of Propaganda Mobilizing Students for War Propaganda Anxiety Arises Postwar Disillusionment Educators Against Propaganda

Chapter 3. In the Shadow of Collectivism American Educators on Soviet Russia American Educators on Fascist Italy Education for Social Planning

Chapter 4. In the Shadow of Dictatorship Collectivism Reconsidered Naturalism under Attack Propaganda Analysis The Paradox of Race

Chapter 5. In the Shadow of Totalitarianism Science and Democracy The End of Ideology Teaching How to Think Dewey on the Defensive

Chapter 6. In the Shadow of Mind Control The Culture of the Cold War Mental Hygiene Life Adjustment Education Educational Brainwashing

Chapter 7. In the Shadow of Sputnik The Rhetoric and Reality of School Practice The Two Cultures of Social Science The Structure of the Disciplines Academic Professors to the Rescue Out with the New

Chapter 8. In the Shadow of Moral Relativity The Fall of Consensus Liberalism The Affective Revolution What to Think